I woke up on the floor of the mining outpost barracks. I blinked as the morning light and the sounds of movement filled the air. Boots clomped on the wood floor, breakfast was cooking, and I was on my back with one wing sprawled out and the other draped over my body. I took a moment to untangle myself, getting onto all fours, stretching out, curling my tail, and spreading my wings before tucking them back against my sides. Captain Aesis was cooking a simple meal on the stove, Lance was getting dressed and his equipment in place, and Master was sitting on the edge of the bed he slept on. I laid my chin on his thigh and swished my tail a little.
“Good morning, Princess.” His hand reached down to scritch behind my horns, and I gave a soft purr. “Did you sleep okay?”
“Yeah, I was fine. How about you?” Since I was forced to reveal myself yesterday, everyone in the room already knew I could talk, so I didn’t bother to pretend I couldn’t today.
“Well enough.” Master stretched before standing up, and we headed over to the table. My harness and packs were still sitting by the beds, and I was enjoying not carrying the weight for a bit. I’d be wearing it all soon enough, probably.
Captain Aesis set out plates for Master, Lance, and herself. She was holding a fourth with only meat on it, looking at me as though trying to make up her mind. Finally, she set it on the table, probably since that’s where I ate last night. I guess she was actually going to try to make good on the whole “treat me and Master with more respect” stuff, so that was good. I climbed up into the chair next to Master, sitting perched.
“It’s so strange to hear an animal talk like that…” She shook her head and sat down.
“First thing she said to me was, ‘Shut the hell up, Lance.’” The mercenary chuckled to himself as he began eating.
“Well, nothing strange about that. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve said that.” The Captain chuckled, playfully punching Lance in the arm.
“I do feel a little bad about that, it’s just… I was kinda freaking out. Um, panicking.” I noticed that the two looked confused, so I elaborated. “Master was badly injured and I needed you to help save him.”
“It’s fine. I already told Aesis the story. Most of it, anyway. I left out the part about you talking.” The Captain shot a glare at being referred to without her rank. But I guess Lance worked with her long enough that he could get away with it, mostly.
“Hmph. So… It’s more than just being ‘well-trained’, isn’t it?” She was staring at me.
“Well, I mean, kinda. I understand people, I’m smarter than other dragons. I don’t want to cause problems for Master, so I do my best.”
“You do a great job. You’re a Good Girl.” Master stroked my head softly.
“Yes, but… why?” Captain Aesis never took her eyes off me, her eyes boring into me with the weight of her suspicion.
“What do you mean, ‘why’? I like being a good girl.” I didn’t like the way she was staring. Even without the truth potion from yesterday, I felt almost compelled to say something, anything, just to get her to stop staring. “I mean, problems for Master are problems for me too. Like, if I got him thrown out of somewhere, like a store or something, then he couldn’t get stuff he needed. I dunno, what if he was getting food, or something he needed for a job, or something?”
“I meant, why can you talk? Why are you smart? How did you get like that?” No luck, she was still staring.
“Oh. Well, I… I dunno… I was experimented on by Elimaio. And I don’t know enough about magic to be able to tell you why I’m a talking dragon now.” All technically true… I really didn’t want to get into my past with the Captain. She had enough of a problem treating mages like Master with suspicion. I think she might have suspected something was strange about my answer, as her eyes shifted over to Master and she raised an eyebrow.
“I wasn’t there during the experiments, and even if I had been, I didn’t learn magic until after his defeat. I don’t know exactly what he did, and it wouldn’t be humane to repeat what I do know. I can tell you that Princess is absolutely not a danger to anyone, at least not without a lot of provocation. After all, you saw her stop the Brotherhood of Shadows rookies without harming them, remember?”
Captain Aesis finally seemed to be satisfied, sitting up instead of leaning forward. “That is true. More than we can say for Lance.” She even cracked a bit of a smirk at that.
“Hey, would you rather I had let him stick his sword in your side? Besides, there were plenty other prisoners to question.” If he was upset at the remark, he wasn’t going to show it.
“True, true.” After a brief pause, she started eating her breakfast. She’d been so wrapped up in questioning me that she hadn’t even started. “After we finish eating, I want to get this area scouted. The men were almost definitely killed by the gryphon, but that doesn’t tell us anything about whether this area is safe or not. I don’t want to send another group of miners to their deaths.”
Lance grunted a little in affirmation, but since he was mid-bite, he didn’t bother to comment further. Master and I were also eating, but since Captain Aesis didn’t chop my food up like Master did, I had to use claws to hold down the slice of meat so I could tear a chunk off with my fangs. I didn’t have molars like the humans, after all, so chewing was a little tougher for me, and eventually I just swallowed the large piece mostly intact. Once I was finished, I daintily licked my paw clean before I made it all gross by walking on it. At least with scales, dirt didn’t stick much to it, but I still would’ve preferred not to use it at all.
The rest of the meal passed mostly in silence. I was mostly focused on eating and not making a mess, so I didn’t really get to observe the others. Instead, we got ourselves ready. Instead of wearing my harness, Master carried the potions he made with him, in his satchel. It had compartments for his spellbook and several other pockets, so it was easy enough to do.
The Captain kept her shield strapped to her arm instead of slung across her back, and Lance adjusted his armor to fit perfectly to his body. From a distance, the overlapping small plates reminded me of my own scales, and I flicked the tip of my tail in amusement.
Preparations ready, we headed outside to begin our search.
There were definitely tracks around. Lots of them. The gryphon had apparently decided to make this area his new home. Probably, he had feasted on the miners for several days, returning multiple times to eat his fill. We found another of its kills, a large deer that had been picked nearly clean, but my nose told me it was a lot fresher than the miners. If it was having trouble getting enough food, it might be weakened, but it might also be desperate.
We searched for about an hour, and we found tracks all over the place, but we couldn’t really figure out a pattern to them. Finally, we decided to head back to the outpost.
“It’s definitely been around for a while. It’s probably still around here, trying to hunt.” I tried breaking the glum silence that hung over the group.
“What do you want to do, Captain?” Master asked.
“Hmph. Well, as much as I’d rather do something about it myself, if we can’t find it, we can’t find it. We can include it in our report, and when they send another mining team, they can send along men to deal with the beast. I don’t like leaving it here this close to the mountain pass, though. A lot of innocent people use the nearby road for travel.”
As we broke through the tree line, however, the question was answered for us. The massive creature was scratching at the ground where the bodies had laid before we buried them yesterday, clearly annoyed at the lack of food. Apparently, food was scarce enough that it was planning to eat the partially rotted meat. At our approach, it fixed its attention directly upon us.
“Well, we don’t have to worry about not finding it anymore.” Lance remarked sarcastically. Right before the creature let out a piercing shriek.
We charged. Captain Aesis was in front, with Lance moving to the left side. She had her shield readied, drawing her sword with a fluid motion. I started to advance as well, moving to the right. Maybe it was the metal armor shining in the late morning sun, but the beast pounced on the Captain with lightning speed, one claw on her sword arm just below the wrist. The other would’ve landed on her body, but she rolled just in time, keeping it from trapping her shield arm. That shield was all that was keeping her alive at that point, as she struggled to keep it between her and that razor-sharp beak that kept trying to strike at her face and chest.
If she was saying anything, it couldn’t be heard over the sound of beak impacting metal and wood, clattering off to the side instead of striking its target.
Lance darted forward, swinging his sword down, catching it against the base of the beast’s wing. The rain of attacks stopped for a moment as it screeched, but it didn’t let up just yet. The metal armor protecting the Captain seemed to be holding for now, but it wouldn’t be enough to stop the beak if it managed to strike true.
With all the work moving dirt and stone yesterday, the spell was fresh on Master’s mind, so he didn’t even need to pull out his book to send large rocks hurtling through the air, pelting the gryphon’s side and head, knocking it off balance. There were plenty of stones to use as projectiles, all the discarded rocks dug out from the mine were now ammunition.
The massive bird head swung to the side to see where the latest hit had come from, which gave me enough of an opening to launch myself at its neck. Or so I thought. I had just gotten my teeth to sink past the thick feathers when the talon raised up into the air. Lucky for me, it caught me on the way up, sending me into the air where my wings could take over, trading only a bruise for some deep cuts. At least I hoped it wasn’t my blood I was tasting.
Lifting its foot freed Captain Aesis. She raised her sword as she rose, trying to drive the blade into its chest, but she caught the broad sternum. It gave the gryphon a nasty cut, but a comparatively superficial one. Still, it reeled enough that she could get a step back.
With another scream, the beast used a massive wing to knock Lance back before he could strike again. It raised a claw and swung it at the Captain, and she blocked the blow, but the sheer force made her stumble into it, her shield forced out of the way for the split-second it took for its beak to come down and pierce her shoulder. The metal armor seemed to keep it from being able to bite through cleanly, so it shook its head and flung her aside, causing her to collapse into a heap.
“Aesis!” Lance screamed at the sight, frozen only for a moment.
The creature tried to survey the rest of us. I was still in the air, as all this happened while I was still getting control of my momentum. Master was still just past the tree line, the furthest away. The Captain was on her back and struggling to sit up, her shield arm unusable as the shoulder was nearly destroyed. I don’t know what she intended to do, and I doubt she did either beyond “fight”. Lance was already moving forward, sword held between him and the animal, his face a mix of grief and rage. But with the gryphon turning its attention to him, I didn’t think he’d stand a chance of landing a hit.
I gave a heavy flap of my wings, launching myself forward so that I could drop from the air directly onto the creature’s back as hard as I could. My chest burned from the exertion, and I knew it would only be worse as that bruise developed, but for now I didn’t have the luxury to worry about that. The moment I landed between its wings, I dug my claws in deep, jaws snapping down onto the back of its neck as I sought to tear.
I had hoped I would distract it, and I was successful, the creature reared and screeched instead of striking Lance. I didn’t really have a plan, I just knew I had to do whatever I could to help the others, to keep it from attacking them.
Lance was trying to find a moment to strike with the claws swinging blindly, each one insanely sharp and as half as large as his sword. Before he could, spears of ice slammed into the creature’s neck and chest. The white feathers were stained with red where the ice hit, the gryphon staggered again, giving Lance the opening he needed to leap forward and drive the sword in just above the animal’s shoulder.
The beast wasn’t quite done, but its movements were definitely slowing down. I had been pulling out mouthfuls of feathers, diving my fangs in to do more damage, but the hide was just so thick that I couldn’t tell if I was doing anything more than tearing up skin. I didn’t know what else to do, so I did the only thing left I could think of. I took a deep breath, and let loose with a searing blast of flame, blanketing its left side of its face in burning pain, blinding the left eye. Lance had moved to our left, which was the animal’s right, and I didn’t want to risk harming our remaining sword fighter. And my friend.
Lance had pulled back, jumping out of range of the flailing creature. I went to launch myself in the air, but one of those claws had managed to reach back behind its neck. It was more limber than I thought, as it caught me out of the air. I did my best to avoid the points, but one tore through my wing membrane, before the claw sent me shooting through the air, bouncing across the ground and into a tree. I didn’t have time to survey the damage, but I was probably grounded for now. Even if my wing was fine, everything was still spinning as I gasped for breath, the images of Master launching more spears of ice jumping about in my eyes as I struggled back to my feet.
One half of its head was smoldering, the feathers burned off, the animal clawing at its own face in pain. Thanks to the fire, it was blind on that side, so it couldn’t try to avoid the ice that thudded into its side, hitting the wing, shoulder, and neck and making it stumble. Master sagged, catching his breath, the strain of so much magic used at once was clearly showing.
“Help her, damn it!” Lance took advantage of the opening to drive his sword in again, twisting it to pierce between two ribs in the gryphon’s side, but the animal was able to use the injured wing to fling him back, this time with the sword still lodged in place.
Master had already been moving to Captain Aesis’s side, retrieving a healing potion from a pocket of his bag. He looked up when he saw the movement, freezing as he tried to determine whether he had time to assist the Captain or if he needed to be on the offensive again. However, I was recovered enough to rush forward, wings spread despite the flash of pain, ready to stand between the gryphon and Master. He wasted no time in removing the stopper and pouring a portion over the wound, pressing the vial into her hands and urging her to drink it quickly. Her pained expression was already melting in relief as the pain began to ebb, and she was able to stand once more.
I let loose another blast of fire directly into the thing’s face, making it shriek again and keeping it from attacking the weaponless Lance, but I wasn’t close enough to do real damage yet. I was really just trying to give the others a moment, anyway.
Its wounds were building up, but it was still a dangerous foe. Captain Aesis was moving towards its blind side, while Lance had pulled out a long dagger and kept his distance. It was better than nothing, but he didn’t look confident.
Master had a new idea, it seemed, as the ground under the gryphon’s feet rumbled, the dirt being lifted up and out of the way briefly, causing it to sink before the dirt fell again, burying its legs for a moment and keeping it from being able to strike with them. Long enough for the Captain to be able to strike, driving her sword into the creature’s neck next to one of the ice lances, but the snapping beak caused her to fall back. She still had her sword and shield, but I didn’t blame her for not wanting to stand her ground right then.
I advanced on the trapped animal and let out more fire into its face. It whipped its head back and forth but it had nowhere to go, the trapped forelegs keeping it locked in place. But the biggest impact that had was keeping it from being able to notice the massive rock magically held above its head. Once I stopped my flames and went to catch my breath, the gryphon tried to lunge its beak forward at me. But that’s exactly what Master expected, and so the boulder slammed down with all the force he could muster, a sickening crunch followed by a deafening silence. The creature’s thrashing had come to a sudden end.
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My legs nearly gave out, feeling like wet noodles. I hadn’t meant to get as close as I did. If that boulder had been slightly later, I might have been in serious trouble… Captain Aesis was catching her breath, and Lance took a moment before carefully retrieving his sword. I looked back and saw him sink to his knees, trembling.
“Master!” I ran to his side, ignoring the pain from my injuries.
Master sagged, his arms wrapped around me as he leaned against me, using me to support himself as he moved to sit in the dirt. “I’m all right. I’m all right, just… just very… exhausted. How’s everyone?”
Captain Aesis gave an experimental shrug of her shoulder, the injury was recovered but the metal armor was still torn. “I’m definitely better than I was, thanks to you.”
“You couldn’t have mired it before? Seems like it would’ve made things a lot easier.” Lance wiped the blood off his blade before sheathing it again. He got a nasty glare from the Captain, and hastily added, “Still, we couldn’t have gotten that without you.”
“I couldn’t have… done it myself… You two were… vital to the fight. To say the least.” Master was mostly catching his breath, but he was still worn out. He got back to his feet, but he looked like he was barely standing, and a stiff breeze would see him fall over.
Lance stretched, wincing at what would probably be a bruise, but he grinned. Probably glad he didn’t catch any hits nastier than that. “I’d say we all were. Including Princess. I saw her bravery, attacking like she did.” Maybe it was my imagination, but I think he was directing that at the Captain. Either way, it made me blush.
“I don’t like how close that was.” The Captain was looking in the beast’s direction, but appeared to be lost in thought. “We made it, but you all were almost… What happened after I went down?”
“Well, it was hectic, but we managed to keep it off of you long enough to get you help. Lance got its attention, Princess got between you and it, and I got a healing potion to you. How are you feeling? There might still be some internal damage to the shoulder.”
Captain Aesis looked at us, her face showing the conflict inside as she tried to determine whether to thank us for helping, or scold us for putting ourselves in danger. “Well, I’m glad nobody else was hurt. And the shoulder… is sore as hell, but it seems to be fine.” I guess she chose the middle road.
Lance got to work, butchering the gryphon as much as he was able, wrapping pieces in spare cloth from the barracks supplies and loading it onto one of the wagon carts nearby. I avoided the area as much as possible, watching him do it was pretty unsettling. I couldn’t stop picturing myself in the gryphon’s place.
Master had already gone inside to sit down and rest, so I followed him, glad to not be smelling the blood anymore, to not have my mouth watering as instincts wanted me to tear chunks of meat from my kill… The adrenaline was leaving my system anyway and leading to one heck of a crash, so I was happy to be inside where I could rest too.
Captain Aesis came inside, undoing her armor and taking it off, scowling as she inspected the damage done to her chestplate. The metal was badly torn, bending it out to keep it from poking her skin just meant it stuck out to catch on everything else. Finally, she just packed it away, wearing more normal clothes.
“You know, mage, it’s interesting to see you so exhausted, when Lance and I did the bulk of the work…”
“Magic is exhausting. The energy has to come from somewhere. Sure, it makes things easier, but it’s more like… A rope and pulley. You can use it to lift boxes you couldn’t normally lift, but all that strength and work still comes from you. You’d be pretty exhausted too, if you grabbed the air hard enough to stop it and freeze it into ice, dug pits and filled them, picked up boulders and threw them, and lifted that massive one at the end to drop on its head. And as for the fighting, Princess fought too. She was on its back, she blinded it in one eye, she dove from the air. And she jumped in front of it to save you. If she hadn’t done that, the beast might have ripped you apart further and eaten you like he did those miners.” He glared at her as he said that last part, his hand stroking between my wings.
“She did, didn’t she…? I meant no disrespect. I’m just still not used to thinking of her as… Well, whatever she is. It’s strange to see an animal that is so like a person.”
“I’ll admit, it does take some getting used to. It’s probably a little easier for me, I never saw a dragon before her, so I didn’t know what to expect. I was surprised to learn that other dragons don’t talk.” He was still petting me, so I simply purred and relaxed. I winced a little when his hand moved to stroke my side, as he touched the part where the gryphon had struck. That felt like a pretty nasty bruise, on top of the torn wing.
“Hmph. Talking animals… That would be madness.” Captain Aesis chuckled a little at the thought.
“Oh, I don’t know. Back where I’m from, a number of people loved the idea of animals that could walk and talk. I think there was even a… ah, sort of like a play? Where the lead character was a talking dragon trying to save others from evil forces.” I couldn’t help but chuckle a little to myself, thinking about explaining the concept of a video game to someone from Terra.
“You come from a strange place, Mage Tola.”
“Yeah, you probably wouldn’t like it. I’ve never seen a person wearing armor or carrying a shield in my life.”
“Your homeland doesn’t have guards?”
“We have… pretty much the same thing as guards, but armor is… Well, the weapons there kind of make most armor useless. Things are just very different there.”
Captain Aesis seemed to be waiting for Master to talk more, but he was just staring into the distance, idly petting me. I didn’t really know what to say, but something was clearly weighing heavily on his mind, and I wasn’t sure I liked it. Maybe I’d try to get him to open up to me later, when we were alone, but when was that going to be?
Maybe I could speak up a little. “Sounds like a point in favor of here.”
Master gave a non-commital grunt. “Mmh. I suppose. But there’s still a lot of good things left behind.”
“And a lot of good things gained?” I nosed at his hand again.
“True… I guess I’m just feeling a little… homesick?” He stroked down my back again, so I pushed my head into his chest softly and gave a purr.
Captain Aesis watched the exchange with a soft smile. “You two are quite the pair.”
Before either of us could reply, Lance came in carrying one of the cloth-wrapped parcels that reeked of blood and meat. “At least we’ll eat well tonight. We heading back in the morning? It was about mid-afternoon now, so we wouldn’t have made much progress before we had to camp for the night. Might as well make use of a stove and beds one more time.
“I’d say so. I’d like to report what we found soon, it’s worrying to see a wild gryphon this close to the city.”
Lance nodded, and then set about getting the kitchen set up for cooking dinner.
“It would be good to rest anyway. The healing potion repaired the damage, but it does so by drawing on your own vitality, your life force. It’s going to leave you feeling pretty worn out and tired for a day or so, at least, fixing something as grievous as you took. You very nearly lost that arm completely, and the potions wouldn’t have helped with that.” Master gave Captain Aesis his best “lecturing teacher” stare.
“Hmph. I’m fine. Starving, but I’m fine.” The Captain crossed her arms, seeming upset that anyone would imply there’s something she couldn’t handle.
“Food and rest are going to be very important. These things are a bit of a last resort, they can be pretty rough on you. I’m serious, I don’t want to see you hurt because you pushed your recovery too hard, okay?”
She actually seemed to soften a little. “…I… appreciate… the concern. I’m… just not used to it, I guess. Usually when people say things like that, they’re telling me I shouldn’t be a guard. That I should leave such ‘dangerous work’ to others.”
“You’re the most capable person I know, Captain. I just want to see you stay capable.”
“…Thank you, Mage Tola.” Definitely words she was not used to saying.
Gryphon steaks sizzled and filled the air with the aroma. Captain Aesis and Master were relaxing at the table. I was curled up on the floor next to Master. The entire left side of my chest was stiff and sore now, where I had taken the hit that sent me into the air. It might have bruised the ribs? Or maybe cracked them? I didn’t really know anatomy well enough to be able to tell, but it was definitely a bad idea to have been flying like I was. Well, too late now. As long as I didn’t move the wrong way, it wasn’t bothering me that badly. The wing itself had some cloth pressed onto it to make a bandage, adhered with the blood that leaked from the membrane. It didn’t have nearly as much in the way of nerves or anything, so it didn’t bleed a lot and it didn’t really hurt.
Master and Captain Aesis were mostly just waiting in silence. Master had pulled out a book he had brought with him to read, while the Captain had her sword out, wiping it down with an oiled cloth. Such brooding was interrupted as plates were set down in front of them, Lance turning back to prepare mine and his next. “Stuffing your mouths is better than this silence,” he called out gruffly.
I climbed up into a chair next to Master. I still wasn’t used to eating at the table, it just felt… really awkward, more of a reminder of how different my body was than eating off the floor was, somehow. Lance put a plate down in front of me, and he must’ve been paying more attention than I gave him credit for, because it was cut into small pieces for me like he saw Master do. My tail swayed a little as I drank in the scent of the grilled meat, doing my best to eat as daintily as I could. The movements highlighted the stiffness I felt in my chest, but the tasty food helped me not focus on it too much.
There was some minor small talk over dinner. Captain Aesis talked a bit about cases she dealt with. Lance talked about exploits that were probably a grain of truth at the center of a pearl of storytelling. Master kept mostly quiet, but did tell a bit about the Mage’s Guild, especially about Roffil and his designs on our tower. I didn’t really have anything to say that Master didn’t already, so I kept quiet. I just lapped up the juices left on the plate while the others talked.
Finding a position to sleep in was a little tricky, but I managed it. Waking up, however… That stiffness was worse than ever. I could barely move, and I let out a yelp when the pain caught me by surprise. It got Master’s attention, as he was getting his boots on. “Something wrong, Princess?”
“Nnh. N-no, I’m… I’m fine. Just bruised from yesterday.” My jaw didn’t really do the thing of “gritting my teeth”, but I’m pretty sure the strain showed in my voice. Master just raised an eyebrow and finished getting dressed.
“Well, might as well get the bandages changed.” Master used some water to loosen the bandages and carefully remove them, inspecting the wound. Cleaning it up, he applied another set of clean cloth pieces, scritching at the base of my horns for standing still. “Hm, seems to be healing well. No sign of infection or anything.”
Captain Aesis and Lance were getting prepared themselves. Lance was telling Captain Aesis about how the outpost had everything needed for preserving the meat and hide. She responded by reminding him that miners out here would need to hunt to supplement their food stores, or at least they’d want to hunt, so it made sense they’d keep such supplies on hand.
Master was watching me as I paced slowly, trying to work some movement back into my chest. “Are you sure you’re all right? If your chest is that badly hurt, we can delay heading back.”
“I… I’ll be fine.” Okay, it was tempting, but… I didn’t want to admit how bad it was.
“If you say so…” Master started putting the harness on me, but when he tightened it, I nearly screamed. I let out a mewling sound and panted heavily, but my legs were locked in place from the pain. So were my tail and wings, tensed and held slightly up. “Nope, that’s not fine.” As quickly as he could, the straps were loosened and the harness removed.
“Haah… Hrrh… Okay, s-so… I underestimated… Ooh, that is really tender.” I was still catching my breath, but at least I had kept myself from snarling or snapping like instincts wanted.
“Mmm-hmm. Okay, let’s see here…” He carefully poked and prodded, testing the range of the injury and my reaction. “I’m pretty sure you fractured something. Some of the bruising is even showing through your scales, it’s so bad. Even if I carried everything, a long walk is probably pretty bad for you. We need to stay here today.”
Lance had taken an interest in the show, sitting to watch while I hadn’t noticed him. “Why don’t you just use one of those potions?”
Master let out a sigh. “Unfortunately, they have to be used right away, or they won’t work. At this point, we can only wait and rely on natural healing. There are potions that can help with that, but I don’t have any, and I don’t know the recipes, either.”
“Why not? Why does it matter?” Lance scowled. Was he more upset by the slowdown, or was he actually concerned about me being in pain?
“It’s… complicated. When a wound is first inflicted, it’s a much larger disconnect between the soul and the body, and the potions can help with that. After the initial shock has worn off, once the body’s had a chance to start working to repair it, the body’s… ‘accepted’? that it’s there. The potion I have doesn’t… work in that particular way. That’s the best way I can think of to explain it, anyway.”
“Hmph. Magic. I don’t know how you make any sense out of it.”
“It… Well, I guess you just sort of… get used to a certain way of thinking? I never thought about it, myself.” Master shrugged a bit. “I mean, I probably couldn’t make sense of swordfighting on the level you’re capable of.”
“I doubt it’s the same, but… I think I see some of what you mean.”
I decided to try to chime in a little. “For what it’s worth, I have trouble making sense of it too, half the time.” My tail swished a little, as Master continued to trace the edges of the bruising that he could see. He tried to pry up a scale to look at the skin itself, but I pulled away, and he didn’t try again. “Sorry, it just feels really weird when you do that.”
“It doesn’t really let me see anything anyway. Don’t worry about it, you just rest.”
The Captain crossed her arms and let out a sigh. “You’re telling me we’re stuck here?”
“You’re free to return to town if you want to, but Princess isn’t in good enough shape for the trip, so I’m staying with her until she’s better.” Master’s voice was a little cross with her, but she didn’t seem to pick up on it. Or, if she did, she chose not to acknowledge it.
“…She was very brave. I’ll stay here, I want to make sure she’s all right.”
I swayed my tail a little. “Did you hear that, Master? Captain Aesis actually complimented me!”
Master chuckled. “You’re right! Is she feeling okay? No fever or anything?”
Captain Aesis rolled her eyes, but had a bit of a smirk. “Ha ha, you two.”
The day was pretty relaxed. Lance and the Captain checked out the mine, but it had barely gotten started before the gryphon attacked. Inside, they found the start of a nest as well as more feathers, so it seems he’d been planning to set up there. Captain Aesis tried to use some of their tools to hammer her breastplate back into shape, but it was a lost cause. Lance got to enjoy giving belly rubs to a dragon, and even the Captain gave it a try.
Every few hours, I got up to walk a bit, pacing about and stretching. The soreness actually eased up pretty well. That evening, Master went to change the bandages on my wing, and the membrane had joined back together. There was nothing but an angry red line where it had happened, it wasn’t even bleeding anymore. Not only that, but my chest was down to an annoying bruise, but it no longer hurt to take deep breaths or anything, and I had pretty much my full range of motion back.
“Really? Are you sure, Princess?” Master seemed pretty surprised when I told him the good news after dinner.
“Yeah! I feel really good, in fact. Must not have been nearly as bad as you thought.”
“Maybe… Still, kind of wish I could have you checked out by… Well, I guess Professor Dweli is our best bet for that sort of thing. If you’re doing well enough in the morning, we can get headed home. I want her to examine you as soon as possible, just to be on the safe side.”
“Eesh, Dweli… I suppose…” I shifted a little in unease, imagining her poking and prodding and asking questions. And how much worse it would be if she knew I could speak.
Captain Aesis raised her eyebrows. “Is this Professor one of the ones who… knows your secret?”
“No, thankfully. She’s an expert on the anatomy of magic-infused creatures, though. Like dragons. She’s staying at our tower, watching over Princess’s eggs while we’re out here.”
“Eggs?” Captain Aesis seemed surprised.
“Uhh, yeah. Dragons lay eggs, you know?” I flicked my tail a little. It was still a little… unpleasant, being reminded of my inhumanity. And how I got them. And how much I… enjoyed that part, as loath as I am to admit it. And how embarrassing it was to lay them while Dweli watched and took notes. Really, everything about them felt like a series of slaps to the face. But to explain that to the Captain would require letting her in on much more of my secret than I wanted, so I tried to play it off.
“I know that, I just didn’t know you had a… litter? A batch? Are they going to be able to talk as well? Like their mother?”
I froze at the question. I had completely not thought about that possibility. I looked at Master, and saw him similarly frozen.
“I, ah, honestly don’t know. That might be… problematic. I’ll have to do a good bit of research when we get home, I suppose. Princess is… one of a kind, with her circumstances, so I guess we won’t know for sure until after they hatch.”
“I mean, maybe they’ll be… normal. I… I hope they are…” I was slightly torn, but only a little. If they were like me, then not only would my secret be revealed, but the poor things would be either subject to endless tests or destroyed outright. They wouldn’t have a chance to be happy. I hadn’t really thought about what I wanted for them, but I realized that’s what it was. I just wanted them to be able to be happy… To have an owner that cared for them the way Master cared for me.
“Well, it’s out of our hands in either case. We can try to research to prepare, but it may come down to waiting and seeing.” Master stroked along my neck to try to calm me down, and it worked a little. Enough to get my body to unclench, anyway.
“Sorry to ask, I didn’t realize…”
Master waved a hand lightly. “It’s all right, it hadn’t occurred to us. Now that you brought it up, we can at least try to prepare, just in case. So, thank you, Captain.”
I looked out the window at the darkened sky. “It’s getting late, though. …Not sure how well I’m going to be able to sleep.”
“Well, it’s best to at least try. Come along, girl.”
Tomorrow morning, we would be setting out on the trip back home, but instead of feeling any kind of victory, this whole trip felt more like a disaster, with the worst still in front of us. Actually falling asleep took a long time, with every attempt to not focus on the unknowable questions failing since I had nothing else to really think about. Eventually, I managed to drift off, listening to Master’s steady breaths and being pressed in close to his warmth. I may not know what the future would bring, but at least I had him to face it with me.